17.3. Choose the Right SSO Implementation
JBoss EAP 6 runs Java Enterprise Edition (EE) applications, which may be web applications, EJB applications, web services, or other types. Single Sign On (SSO) allows you to propagate security context and identity information between these applications. Several SSO solutions are available but choosing the right solution depends on your requirements.
Note that there is a distinct difference between a clustered web application and clustered SSO. A clustered web application is one which is distributed across the nodes of a cluster to spread the load of hosting that application. If marked as distributable, all new sessions, and changes to existing sessions are replicated to other members of the cluster. An application is marked as able to be distributed across cluster nodes with the <distributable/> tag in the
web.xml deployment descriptor. Clustered SSO allows for replication of security context and identity information, regardless of whether or not the applications are themselves clustered. Although these technologies may be used together they are separate concepts.
Kerberos-Based Desktop SSO
If your organization already uses a Kerberos-based authentication and authorization system, such as Microsoft Active Directory, you can use the same systems to transparently authenticate to your enterprise applications running on JBoss EAP 6.
Non-Clustered Web Application SSO
If you are running multiple applications on a single instance and need to enable SSO session replication for those applications, non-clustered SSO will meet your requirements.
Clustered Web Application SSO
If you are running either a single application, or multiple applications, across a cluster and need to enable SSO session replication for those applications, clustered SSO will meet your requirements.
